N-W dealing with serious budget issues

by jmaloni

Thu, Feb 17th 2011 01:00 pm

by Susan Mikula Campbell

This time, it won't be like putting a bandage on a skinned knee.
This time, the Niagara-Wheatfield Board of Education, like other school boards
across the state, will have to do some serious surgery on its school budget to
make up for state aid cuts.

Budget cuts this time, officials say, are likely to include people
and programs that directly affect students - maybe sports coaches/programs,
maybe successful programs like the new after-school Twilight program that
helped 20 students graduate last year. The only other option, one that still
could be necessary, is a tax increase.

Gov. Cuomo's proposed budget would mean a $4,557,071 or 17.6
percent cut in aid for Niagara-Wheatfield, according to N-W Business Director
Kerin Dumphrey. This is the biggest percentage cut among all Niagara County
districts, with Lewiston-Porter coming in a close second with a 17.32 percent
cut.

The school board in recent months has been receiving reports from
district principals and officials on budget requests. After last week's Board
of Education meeting, N-W Superintendent Carl Militello announced that the
board would meet again on Wednesday, Feb. 16, and immediately go into executive
session to discuss budget issues. Regular public board meetings will continue
at 7 p.m. the first Wednesday of the month, but the closed-to-the-public budget
workshops will continue on the third Wednesday of March and April.

"You've never faced a
financial year like this one," Militello warned the board at last week's
meeting, telling them the final result would have to be both acceptable for the
needs of the students, and financially responsible to the taxpayers.

Militello wrote on the
district's website: "These are very difficult times for each and every public
employee within the state of New York. Schools are being extremely damaged by
the governor's budget and the possibility of a tax cap. During these
difficult times it will be extremely vital that all of us draw closer together
in a collaborative manner to ensure the future quality of public schools. In
addition, our major focal point is to come through these challenging times
stronger than before the crisis."

Affecting N-W's cut in aid, Dumphrey said, was it being considered
a wealthy district. N-W has one of the lowest free/reduced school lunch
participation in the county at 27 percent, and the state considers anything
below 30 percent as not in need. Also, the district has had no or minimal tax
increases in recent years, indicating an ability to raise money from taxes,
Militello said.

N-W's aid cut was reduced by being the only district in the county
that qualified for state administrative efficiency aid ($239,198), which is
based on having a low percentage of the budget spent on central administration
costs, Dumphrey said.

The good news is that the district has already implemented or will
soon implement a long list of cuts (ranging from a hiring freeze to cuts in
early and late bus runs), but even with those cuts, the school board will still
need to find another $2.1 million, either in cuts or taxes.